Friday, January 30, 2015

Snow and Ice

There was snow forecast for yesterday. There were weather warnings and all sorts. So it wasn't any great surprise to wake up yesterday morning to find that there was a bit of snow about the place. But not a huge lot it must be said. It didn't inconvenience us at all getting to the station.

There was quite a bit more snow in Sheffield, and it was actively snowing. From time to time in the course of the morning it snowed quite heavily, with big, thick, fluffy snowflakes. The Builder reported no falling snow in Tupton, until about 10:30. By then there was quite a lot of snow in Sheffield, and people who lived up, or beyond the steep hills that Sheffield is made of were struggling to get into the city centre. Lots of lectures were cancelled. There weren't many students about. Many staff members tried to get in, only to be thwarted when they got to the steep hills, and had to turn back.

By midday, the snow had stopped falling in Sheffield and the sky was blue and the sun was shining. But Julia and I both had messages from our spouses that the snow was falling thick and hard in Chesterfield and Tupton and the roads were looking iffy. The Derbyshire County Council put a message onto Twitter to say that the roads were at a standstill and quite treacherous in Chesterfield and not to travel there unless your need was urgent. Julia and I abandoned ship and made our way to the railway station - feeling a bit like frauds because, as I said, the sun was shining and the roads were fairly clear.

The sun was shining when we got to Chesterfield too. I went with Julia towards the church. Julia was going to walk home. I was going to take a bus. The traffic on the road was almost completely stationary. And there, by the pedestrian crossing was a bus that was heading my way. I decided not to go up to the church but to head down the road to the next bus stop, thinking that I might make it there before the bus did. On the way I walked past another bus. And then another. And I got to the bus stop several minutes before the first of them made it. The bus driver said he would not be going into Tupton, but would be staying on the main road.

No worries. I hopped off the bus at the Tupton corner and walked in the sunshine down Queen Victoria Road, feeling very definitely like a fraud. There was no severe weather here. The sky was a deep, dark blue. But the pavements were snow-covered and icy and I had to walk with care. And it took me two hours to get home instead of the more normal 45 minutes. I was quite glad, really, that I was doing it early in the afternoon in the sunshine, and not in the evening in darkness!

There was more snow overnight, and it was below freezing when we left this morning. It normally takes us ten minutes to drive to the station but this morning it was almost 40 minutes. And the trains were in disarray. But there was no real hassle getting to work. True, it took longer than normal, but nothing like two hours. It is a glorious day and the countryside between Chesterfield and Sheffield was beautiful, the snow glistening in the morning sunlight.